A couple of days ago I wrote to all our Trust members with some of my usual end of season thoughts. Below I am sharing them to all supporters.
If you aren’t already a Trust member but would like to join, get more involved and receive regular updates and supporter related news then it takes just a couple of minutes to do so HERE.
For our final match day notes of the season against WBA last Monday, I provided a brief overview of my thoughts on the past few months. In this end of season update to members and supporters I will expand on them a little further and add in some other updates that you may be interested in.
A season of ups and downs
As I mentioned before the WBA game, I’m not sure if I can compare this season on the field to anything else I’ve experienced in recent years. We started the season positively and were well placed for a play-off position as we headed into the first ever winter break, which would become Lionel Messi’s World Cup.
We seemed well on course to push on over Christmas and the New Year to keep us, at the very least, in the top half of the table. Our form then abandoned us, and we went on a run in that middle third of the season that at one stage saw us begin to nervously look over our shoulders towards the bottom six rather than the hoped for play-off positions.
The January Transfer window was extremely disappointing on many fronts, and we know that improvements must be made with an important summer ahead of us. I am proud however of the work done by the Trust to seek information from the club and press for action. Our interview with the majority owners after the window is something that was done to bring clarity to the supporters, and whilst of course the summer will be the proving ground for whether lessons have been learnt, the Trust did their upmost to provide a voice for the supporters privately and in public too.
As we entered February and March, cue two more local derbies, firstly home against Bristol City and then that unforgettable double “doube” game at Cardiff that triggered another push up the table that some then began to believe could end in a top six finish after all. I think the realists amongst us knew that this was simply a step too far with the damage caused in late 2022/early 2023 proving to be our ultimate downfall.
As the dust has settled on that superb last minute Joel Piroe free kick to beat WBA last Monday, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Russell Martin, his players and all the backroom staff for coming through some very difficult moments at times this season. The way Russell moulded and nurtured the team, and supported them through that difficult patch in the middle of the season gives us confidence that he is the man we want leading our team out every week, and we hope to see progression on contract talks with him in the coming weeks. That is something we will be following up on.
Watching the players do their lap of honour to thank the supporters last Monday hammered home to me once again how much the club means to so many of the Jack Army, not just in and around Swansea but in all parts of the world.
Many of these now form part of our Global Jacks initiative, an ever growing and important part of what makes our club truly special. Last October we held our first ever official Global Jacks weekend in Swansea where supporters from all over the world came together to watch the Swans (some for their first ever games) and enjoy a long weekend of the very best that Swansea can offer. This will now become an annual event and as soon as the fixtures for 2023/24 are released our excellent working group will be busy once again in organising our next one. If you’d like to learn more about the Global Jacks initiative or find out where your nearest Swans Supporters Group is located, please visit HERE.
Changing times at Swansea City
As expressed in our Trust release on Friday 5th May I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome new Chairman Andy Coleman to Swansea City Football Club and we look forward to continuing our work alongside Andy, others in the ownership group and the club over the coming months.
The Trust have been working hard alongside the club and majority owners over the past few weeks to ensure such appointments and their investment models fit within the necessary requirements as laid out by the EFL and of course within our own parameters of what the Trust believe are in the best long-term interests of the club.
We have been in regular contact with the majority owners regarding further investment into the club, and will continue to engage with potential investors, ensuring that they understand the role that the Trust can and does play within the club and the community. We expect further investment to be finalised in the coming months, and will update members and supporters as and when something materialises.
The work of the Supporters’ Trust this season and beyond.
Our goal this season has been to build on the strong foundations set about in the 2021/22 season, where we welcomed a host of new Board Members and undertook a significant amount of work to revamp our digital presence. We are continuing to build on that, and trying to bring ever more information and clarity to members and supporters about what is going on within the club and with the Trust.
A couple of weeks ago the club released its 2021/22 accounts and these are now available for viewing on Companies House. As part of our initiative to bring more clarity and information, the Trust thought it would be useful for supporters to be able to gain a better understanding of what the numbers mean, and so we conducted an interview with Football Finance Expert Kieran Maguire. In the interview Kieran provided further commentary and analysis on the accounts as well as the broader football finance picture. If you haven’t already listened to it, we would recommend you do so by clicking on the links on our website story HERE.
While it is always good to have a few weeks break from having our weekends made better or ruined by an injury time goal that is part of following the Swans, the work of the Trust doesn’t stop over the summer months. We will soon be out and about supporting both Swansea Schools and the Swansea Junior Football League in their traditional end of season finals. We have now sponsored and supported these voluntary organisations that offer so much to grass roots football in and around Swansea for over 10 years and look forward to doing the same for many years to come.
We are also lining up additional member and supporter-based events over the summer and early Autumn and we will release more details as they are firmed up. These will tie in with our continued discussions with the club about some close or early season fans forums within our large supporter catchments. Thank you to those of you I have been in discussions with about these, and I will continue to lobby for these to take place as soon as we possibly can.
A word too on the excellent Swansea City annual awards night on the 3rd May where the Trust were delighted to present Brian Flynn with this season’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his role 20 years ago in ensuring the Swans avoided relegation out of the Football League, culminating in that nail-biting 4-2 final day victory at the Vetch Field. As you can see HERE it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the money raised going towards the sterling work being carried out by the Swans Former Players Association.
And on the topic of the old but truly memorable Vetch Field that still means so much to me and many other supporters, you may be interested to hear that we’ve recently been in discussions with Swansea Council to allow the Trust to look at ways on how best we can look to tidy up and renovate the old Vetch Field players and officials entrance on Glamorgan Street. This is a particularly iconic part of the old Vetch and the Trust believe it is vitally important we look to preserve one of the few remaining parts of the old stadium that still bring back happy memories to many of our supporters.
We also believe it is extremely important that we look to involve the volunteers behind the Vetch Veg allotments project that now so passionately cares for the land that the old South Stand and changing rooms stood upon.
We are just finalising agreements with Swansea Council to take on the responsibility for renovating and maintaining this small but important piece of land over the next few years as well as preparing a proposed schedule of works. We will then announce more details to members and supporters but in the meantime if anyone feels they would like to help us in any way on this project please get in touch with us at info@swanstrust.co.uk
Alongside this proposed project at the old Vetch Field players and officials entrance we are currently working with ITV Wales on their “Vanished Wales” series. They are looking to produce a programme over the coming weeks that remembers the historical old ground and takes in the stories and memories of supporters who used to watch games at the Vetch.
Once again if there is anyone who feels they have some stories to share about those days standing on the North Bank or any other stories of the old Vetch then please let us have your contact details and a very brief outline of some of your most memorable moments and send them to us at info@swanstrust.co.uk. We will then ensure they get passed to the producers of the “Vanished Wales” series.
As this is just a very brief summary of some of what we are currently working on members and supporters are reminded there is always much more information available to read and digest in our comprehensive monthly board minutes that we routinely upload onto our Swans Trust website HERE
Have ideas? Want to get more involved?
We have enjoyed our engagement with members and supporters this season, but recognise there is more to do. We have seen from our interactions that there are many good ideas out there, provided by passionate and knowledgeable supporters. Whilst the Trust aim to take as many of these ideas forward as possible, we are still a relatively small team – but that doesn’t mean that with your support, they can’t be taken forward.
Our July board elections will soon be here, and we have six vacancies for the next two-year Board cycle. We will soon be providing more details to members on what is entailed in putting yourselves forward to become a Trust Board member for the next two years. Or if you’d like to learn more just email us at info@swanstrust.co.uk where we’d be pleased to provide more details.
On the topic of communication and feedback, Trust Members are reminded that we are now hosting regular online Q&A sessions, with our next one scheduled for Monday 26th June at 7pm. We will send another reminder and invite out to members nearer the time, and will also be looking to bring along a guest from the club to join us for you to personally ask questions.
Thanks to you
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters for your support over the past season and also extend a huge thanks to every one of the many Swansea City staff and volunteers who work in and around the stadium, many of whom our Trust Board work very closely with to help ensure our members and supporters are always at the forefront of our thoughts and considerations.
There are simply too many to mention in person but we do appreciate your support in the many areas we are working alongside each other and also the open and transparent way all of us communicate on the wide variety of topics that are important to our supporters.
I would also like to recognise the tremendous contributions made by every member of the Trust Board – we would not be able to do anything without them, and I do not take for granted the time and emotional commitment that it takes to be a Board Member. Every hour spent working on Trust matters is an hour not spent at work, with family and loved ones, or on other hobbies – it is important to recognise that and the effect that it can have on the families of our Board Members too.
Therefore, I’d like to thank each of them – Sian and Ceri, for their excellent work as the key interfaces into the club, working directly with the Senior Management Team to ask important questions and feed those back both to the Trust Board, our members, and the supporters. Chris, my Vice Chair, who has been an integral figure on all manner of issues this season, from being a key voice in our Finance and Legal Sub-groups, to supporting important conversations with the ownership group. Howell, our Treasurer, who has worked tirelessly to simplify our accounts and ensure we are set up successfully for many years to come.
Rupert and James for their stellar work supporting the legal sub-group as we continue to ensure the Trust’s interests are protected as and when new investment is brought into the club. Adam, for his work across multiple important elements of our Trust work, including our communications and social media, managing our digital systems, and providing support to the Membership & Fundraising group.
Diane, for her leadership of our Membership & Fundraising group where we have worked diligently to bring our members into a new system, and her dedication to building our membership base. Tony, who has been a fresh voice on all manner of things related to the Trust, but who was primarily responsible for our outstanding Bowling Evening earlier this year and building our links to the Global Jacks. We are excited by the ongoing ideas that Tony is working to bring to life. Paul M, who has taken on several important initiatives in his year with us, including some of the Vetch Field work, and work around our longer-term strategy and sustainability. Roger, who has revived and led the Schools Initiative brilliantly after two years away during Covid – this programme is a fantastic way for secondary school students across Swansea to understand more about how the club operates, meeting with representatives of the club to present ideas.
Cath, for her continued contributions to multiple groups, and more broadly to the DSA community for whom she is an absolute star. A mention to Howard too, who was an important overseas member, but unfortunately had to step down earlier this year due to work commitments.
And last but by no means least, Paul B, our secretary for his tremendous organisation and diligence in producing high quality monthly meeting minutes, which provide significant levels of detail for all to see on the work of the Trust.
Again, I would like to personally thank them for all their continued dedication in what can often be very challenging circumstances.
Have an enjoyable summer everyone. It’s only 12 weeks before it all kicks off again….
Dave
Chair, Swansea City Supporters’ Trust
16th May 2023
